File No. 774–44.
It will be noted that the government of Her Majesty the Queen of the
Netherlands is disposed to cooperate in the institution of an inquiry
upon the subject, and will proceed to nominate a delegate to the
proposed conference or to indicate a member in the eventual commission
when it is decided in what manner the inquiry shall be made.
[Inclosure 1.]
Minister Hill
to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs
.
American Legation,
The
Hague
,
February 14,
1907.
No. 125.]
Sir: I inclose herewith a copy of an
instruction sent mutatis mutandis by my Government to the United
States embassies at London and Tokyo, by which the views of the
British and Japanese governments were sought with reference to a
general and impartial investigation of the scientific and material
conditions of the opium trade and the opium habit in the Far East,
to be conducted by the principal powers having possessions and
direct interests in that quarter, namely, Germany, China, and
Japan.
The British Government has replied that it is willing to take part in
such an inquiry if the other powers above mentioned are likewise
willing to participate, and if, as regards China, the inquiry shall
be extended to the production of opium in China as well as to the
importation of foreign opium.
The Japanese Government has replied that it will be willing to join
in the investigation suggested and to take steps looking toward a
limitation or suppression of the opium traffic provided that China’s
bona fide cooperation is assured.
Since the department’s initial inquiry was made and the views of
Great Britain and Japan thereon elicited, the regulations for the
suppression of opium growing and smoking in China, drawn up and
submitted by the council of government reforms, have been approved
by the imperial rescript November 21, 1906. A copy of these
regulations is inclosed.
In a dispatch to the Department of State at Washington, dated
December 6, 1906, the American legation at Pekin says:
“It is intended to gradually eliminate the cultivation of the poppy,
and the viceroys and governors are instructed to see that
magistrates investigate and report on the acreage of poppy lands,
and issue licenses to farmers owning such land, on condition that
the quantity of poppy is reduced each year and replaced with
whatever crop the nature of the soil may be fitted for.
“Already the Chinese Taot’ai, Liang T’un Yen, has been instructed by
His Excellency the Viceroy Yuan Shih k’ai to consult the consuls of
Tientsin regarding the prohibition of the establishment of the new
opium dens in their [Page 154]
concessions. These in the Chinese City have already been prohibited
so that the young men may be freed from the temptation to become
habitual smokers of this noxious drug, and all existing houses are
to close their doors within a certain period. It is requested that a
similar period be fixed by the foreign consuls after consultations
with Taot’ai Liang.
“The commissioners of the south and north sections of the Tientsin
city police have received instructions from the viceroy to order the
keepers of all existing opium dens, except shops that sell raw and
prepared opium, in Tientsin and the suburbs, to close their doors
and to stop business before the end of the current Chinese month (i.
e., December 15) or they will be most severely punished without
indulgence. In order to put this demand into effect, Chinese
restaurants, eating houses, and wine shops are prohibited from
keeping lamps and pipes for opium smoking by their visitors after
the 15th instant and offense will be punished by severe
penalties.
“All ships importing raw and prepared opium will be prohibited from
carrying on this traffic within a certain time, i. e., after proper
regulations have been drawn up between Sir John Jordan and the
foreign office for the gradual reduction of the importation of
Indian opium into China and of the planting of homegrown opium in
the provinces. It is believed that His Excellency Tang Shao-i will
open negotiations with the British minister on this subject
shortly.”
From the foregoing China’s cooperation in the investigation may be
confidently expected.
The views of Great Britain and Japan being favorable and the
cooperation by China seeming assured, it is deemed desirable by my
Government that I take an early opportunity to bring this matter to
the attention of the Government of the Netherlands, and, in
connection therewith, I now have the honor to inquire of the
Netherlands Government whether it will be willing to join with the
other powers mentioned in a conference on the opium question, or
whether, if another course were deemed more convenient and
practical, it would be prepared to name a commissioner, who, in
concert with like commissioners of the other named powers, would
investigate the subject, with a view to submitting a joint
recommendation to the powers, or in case of divergence of views a
statement thereof, to the several governments, for their
consideration and appropriate determination in the direction of
united action, as the result of a conference or coincident action by
such Government in its own sphere.
Accept, etc.,
